Kind of hard to come up with such a list. Some of the planes on the list were known to be obsolete at the beginning of the war and were pressed into service because their replacements weren't ready yet. Others were new concept aircraft that had a lot of bugs that were never worked out before the war ended.

Interesting list though. I would agree that everything on the list had serious problems.

One test pilot noted “that thing is bloody lethal, but not to the Germans, I never want to see it again”. Another famous quote “access to this aircraft is difficult. It should be made impossible” is also frequently attributed

Well to be fair, it was probably more the lousy torpedo than the plane. The TBD was designed in 35 and went into service in 37. At the time it was probably the most advanced plane of it's type. But war brings about change a lot faster than peace. What was excellent in 37 was often obsolete in 41.

I do believe that TBDs did hit the Shoho in the opening stages of the Coral Sea. Granted it was after the SBDs had wrecked her.

TBD torpedoes dit hit SHOHO. The following is an excerpt of a forthcoming TROM's revision:

"At 0855, SHOHO is attacked by the US airstrike. Turning hard to port, the carrier dodges the first three bombs. The next three attacking SBDs are engaged by 2 A5M4 and abort their attack. One SBD is shot down. At 0917, 3 A6M2 take off and head to the next US attacking planes: 15 VB-2 SBDs. One 1,000-lb bomb hit the carrier just in front of the aft elevator. A second bomb hits SHOHO near the same location. Next to attack are VT-2 TBDs: a torpedo hits the carrier’s stern at starboard destroying the steering gear; a second one hits amidships port side; then a third one, near the bow. In quick succession SHOHO is hit by another two torpedoes. She goes dead in the water and is devastated by several fires. US aircraft losses account for one “Dauntless” from YORKTOWN and two from LEXINGTON. SHOHO’s six CAP fighters lose three aircraft including 1 A6M2, the other three make ditch landings off Deboyne Island’s seaplane base. In total, the light carrier is overwhelmed, and struck by a reported total of seven torpedoes and thirteen bombs in the space of twenty-three minutes...

Gilbert

Edit: spelling !

< Message edited by Gilbert -- 2/28/2013 4:04:50 PM >

_____________________________

UMI YUKABA "If I go away to sea, I shall return a corpse awash, if duty calls me to the mountain, a verdant will be my pall, thus for the sake of the Emperor, I will not die peacefully at home...."

Posts: 5441
Joined: 1/26/2005 From: Planning the end of the world, well the next 12 moStatus: offline

The list is far from accurate, there were a lot of aircraft worse than these, maybe less publicity about them (No Amiot's made the list, the 410 was a failure but amongst the 10 worst??, Wirraway as a combat aircraft, YB40 & YB41????)

The TBD attack on the Shoho was considered to be one of the best "in combat" examples of the classic torpedo squadron anvil attack tactics. They performed quite well that time - even if she was already damaged.

Well to be fair, it was probably more the lousy torpedo than the plane. The TBD was designed in 35 and went into service in 37. At the time it was probably the most advanced plane of it's type. But war brings about change a lot faster than peace. What was excellent in 37 was often obsolete in 41.

Case in point, the A6M - after that, the Zero lived off it's reputation.

_____________________________

Stratford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

"The Angel of Okinawa"

Home of the Chance-Vought Corsair, F4U The best fighter-bomber of World War II

....and was successful against the Bismarck, Richelieu, Dunkerque and of course at Taranto. No matter how obsolete an aircraft was, you can't put it in a "worst aircraft of WWII" if it achieved such success.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty - Horatio Nelson 1805.

The TBD was still in service merely because its replacement wasn't ready yet. The war started too early. In 1938 the USN issued a specification for a new dive bomber, fighter and torpedo bomber. In the end the only one that was ready on schedule was the TBF which first saw combat at Midway. The F4U had a lot of problems passing carrier quals and the SB2C ended up with a lot of stability problems due to the requirement that two of the new dive bombers had to fit on a carrier elevator. The resulting plane was too short.

The TBD was the world's first carrier monoplane. It was very advanced for the time, but it was past its pill date by 1941 and the Navy knew it. There just was nothing they could do about it.

I realize aircraft development was advancing quickly but that means you have to accelerate the product cycle or make some other adaptation (all SBD's for example). It may well be true the Navy could not do much between Dec 41 and June 42 but that just means there was a management failure beforehand. Seems to me they could have stolen SBD's dedicated to the Marine Corps..

Many crews were lost at Midway because of decisions made before the war. Imagine if there were a more capable torepdo bomber at Midway. All 4 IJN carriers might ahve been sunk right off the bat?

I realize aircraft development was advancing quickly but that means you have to accelerate the product cycle or make some other adaptation (all SBD's for example). It may well be true the Navy could not do much between Dec 41 and June 42 but that just means there was a management failure beforehand. Seems to me they could have stolen SBD's dedicated to the Marine Corps..

Many crews were lost at Midway because of decisions made before the war. Imagine if there were a more capable torepdo bomber at Midway. All 4 IJN carriers might ahve been sunk right off the bat?

warspite1

Ditto the FAA - imagine what the RN could have done with a proper aircraft....

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty - Horatio Nelson 1805.